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condensation in oil??

I have noticed some yellow/brownish cream that is forming on the underside of the oil fill cap. There is also some waterish clear liquid accompanying it. I have an 87 turbowagon. I have the mechanical and electric fans. The digital dash is all working and the motor never gets above 4 bars. I also have a 180 thermostat. It seems to get worse when i only make short trips. I'm assuming that the oil temps aren't high enough to bake out all the condensation. What should i do to cure this or is it really that bad? Any one else have this problem?

if you're not loosing any coolant then you're probably fine. i'd be sure to change your oil very frequently if there's that much water in the system. you haven't had any engine work done recently (intake or otherwise) that may have allowed coolant to mix with the oil?

Condensation under the oil cap is somewhat normal, for a couple of reasons.

1. Having the fill tube for oil, doesn't allow much crankcase air circulation up around the cap to help get rid of the moisture.

2. Cold weather causes more condensation to develope, especially with alot of short trip driving. As the engine doesn't get hot enough, long enough, to burn it out, dry it up, how ever you want to put it.

Just about any vehicle with a fill tube for the oil will have some condensation under the cap. The longer the fill tube, the more of it you'll see. Atleast that's been my experience.

Now with that said. I'd be more concerned if you were gettting that yuck on the dip-stick itself. That would not be good, as it would indicate other problems.

You can add SeaFoam to suck up some of that moisture and cook off. I just changed my oil as soon as it started getting bad this winter. Will change it again when it starts to warm up. Since it's just my ORV I dont put a lot of miles on it unless I'm driving to an event.

Water in the oil isnt good and you are quite observant to notice it and be concerned. However I would agree with Tom that it's prolly not something like a failing gasket. You'd have more symtoms

Clean the cap of good, allow the engine to warm up with the cap off. Let all the steam and crap leave the cam; I would run the car for a good ten before calling the job done(don't smoke near the car). Replace the cap and drive for two or days before checking the cap again. Most likely the cap will be clean if not change your oil and inspect all your air hoses for cracks. Winter will promote the vapor in the cams to carry a small amount of water.

Yup, it shouldn't be a problem. Whenever I do lots of short trips in the winter, mine starts to get a little bit of that crap on the filler cap. Whenever that happens, I try to drive it for a long time without shutting off to get the moisture out.